


s c a r s

by kittymills



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Burns Mention, F/M, Gen, I hate the name heath for papa Kogane but it’s better than tex, M/M, Modern AU, POV Outsider, Soulmates, keith has past trauma, keith is a firefighter like his pop, papa kogane POV, please let me know if I miss anything in the tags, scars mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23490391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittymills/pseuds/kittymills
Summary: Heath just wants Keith to find happiness after his trauma and an explainable nudge one night in a bar sends him in a direction to make that happen.
Relationships: Keith & Keith's Father (Voltron), Keith's Father/Krolia (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 168





	s c a r s

**Author's Note:**

> So a few days ago I posted this (https://twitter.com/kittymill5/status/1246049553641402369?s=20) on twitter and then the concept burrowed into my head and wouldn't leave me alone so this happened. Not quite what I had in mind to write but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

The wild thought that scampers through Heath Kogane’s mind as he crosses the floor of the bustling bar is this:

_Keith is going to kill him._

He ploughs on anyway, against his better judgement - past the stone faced regulars, past the pretty ladies in high heels and red lipstick and men in sharp suits and comes to a stop in front of a tall man with the slash of a scar across his nose and cheeks.

“Hi,” he says. “You and my son match.”

* * *

When the car careened off the road and slammed down the embankment in a screech of metal and crushed glass, Heath had been the first one on the scene.

Miles away from anywhere, he’d been relieved when he pried the car door open and he’d found the driver unconscious but breathing.

And surprisingly unharmed.

He didn’t know what she had been running from, and in the few short years they’d managed to have together, he’d never bothered to ask.

 _A miracle_ , he’d told her when she had opened her eyes and studied her uninjured body in the mirror.

 _Fated_ , she’d told him long after they’d built a life together and her stomach swelled with their child.

It was one of the last things she said to him.

* * *

Heath had never planned to raise a child alone. In the long hours before the dawn, he often found himself on the rocking chair on the porch, waiting for the sun to stretch her fingers out across the world, wondering if the past few years had been nothing but a delirium induced dream. Perhaps he never made it out of that last fire, maybe he’s in a hospital bed somewhere, machines beeping and keeping his body alive while his mind skipped along on a fantasy that held all the hope and pain and joy he never thought he could bear.

He thinks it often, but the weight of the baby in his arms reminds him it’s all real.

* * *

His son grows brave and strong, and so much like his mother that Heath doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry. He’s fierce and bright and as determined as she ever was. But he’s soft too, and alone in the world without his mother that makes Heath’s heart weak.

He misses her for what she was.

Keith misses her for what she could have been.

It’s hard when the birthdays, Christmases and every day victories roll around. She should have been here to watch their son grow. She should have been here to watch him toddle across the carpet in the lounge room when he took his first steps. She should have been there to see him off on his first day of school, to pick him up when he skinned his knee, or to have his back when the school bully set his sights on him.

She should have been there to see him graduate and then follow Heath’s footsteps and be inducted into the same fire station Heath had spent half his life.

Nothing had made Heath prouder than the day Keith had donned his uniform for the first time.

Three years after that, he would regret it… bitterly.

* * *

He should have known that Keith wouldn’t let him go in alone. He should have known that Keith would steadfastly ignore him when he screamed at Keith to get back to the truck. Instead, they’d both become trapped as the heat around them rose and rose and their ears burst with the roar of flames.

A shower of embers above them, like orange sparkling rain, and then a beam crashing down. A scream under the cover of smoke they later tell him belonged to him but he swears must have been Keith’s.

And when Keith had woken up, the melted skin across his cheek stood out in stark relief against the rest of his pale skin. He grew his hair longer to hide it. He became withdrawn, even a little angry.

Heath could hardly fault him for that.

It had taken him a long time to work through the trauma, to the point that Heath had almost begged him not to come back. Keith was an artist in his spare time, his room full of sketchbooks, why not pursue that passion instead? Forge a new path? Like it was just that easy.

Keith had looked at him like he was crazy anyway.

So instead, they were here, celebrating Keith’s first week back at work. The first week back in uniform and back on the job. Heath’s emotions are complicated. He’s proud, worried, relieved and scared all at once.

And then _he’d_ walked in.

* * *

The man’s name was Shiro, Heath learns. He has a good energy about him, an easy smile and takes Heath’s awkward introduction in the spirit it was meant to be. Without offense, and maybe a little out of his control.

Shiro chuckles lightly and ducks his head and just then Heath realizes that Shiro has obviously been watching Keith too. He hadn’t needed to explain himself at all.

“So does your son know you’re over here talking to me?” Shiro asks mildly.

Heath gestures to the bartender absently, ordering another drink for himself and Shiro. He’s going to need more liquid courage if he’s going to pull this off.

“No,” he drawls, amused and not at all terrified of the thought of Keith knowing what he’s up to. He’s not exactly sure where Keith is right now, but the rest of the gang in the fire station were here too so Heath knows where ever he is, he’s not going to be alone. “And if he did, he’d probably kill me.”

“Maybe you can blame it on the alcohol,” Shiro laughs. He takes the beer the bartender slides over and raises it. “Thanks for this, by the way. Think your son would appreciate me returning the favour?”

Heath takes his own drink and turns to scan the crowd. “I hope so. Lord knows he needs a friend these days.”

Shiro is quiet for a moment. “I’d like that. Maybe even more, if he’d be willing to talk to me.”

Heath gives Shiro a sideways glance. There’s a whole lot wrong with this situation (seriously, what was he thinking coming over here. Krolia would probably have had his head for his) but if it means a whole lot could go right… well, it could be a risk worth taking.

He takes too long to respond and then he sees Shiro’s gaze shift to a point over his shoulder. His expression changes too, and Heath knows what he’s going to find before he even turns around.

Keith approaches him slowly, head ducked so that the long strands of his dark hair rest against his cheek. It doesn’t quite hide the scaring but it seems to help him. Heath wishes he could make Keith understand that the scar doesn’t change anything. He’s still the same man that his mother would be proud of, that he is proud of. The same man that deserves the whole world at his feet.

“Keith, there’s someone here I think you should meet.”

Keith’s gaze flicks to Shiro’s face and for a heartbeat, something that looks like longing appears in his eyes before it’s dashed away and Keith’s face twists.

“What is this?” he demands harshly.

It’s then that Heath realizes he’s misstepped. “Keith, I-“

“What?” Keith hisses. He rounds on his father with eyes so full of fire and a jaw so sharp Heath is instantly transported back twenty five years. “You think that I need you to find me friends? More people to talk to? Someone broken like me?”

The bar is loud, but Keith’s angry tones are enough to cause people nearby to turn and stare. Heath ignores them and holds up his hands in surrender. His stomach churns with the distress Keith must be feeling, but the truth of it was…. Keith wasn’t wrong.

“Now, son, if you just wait-“

“No,” Keith all but snarls. It makes the scar on his cheek catch the light and it flares an angry red. The grimace on his face is uncomfortable, and then Keith isn’t looking at him at all. “Look, I don’t know what he’s told you,” he says to Shiro. Shiro, to his credit, keeps his expression calm under Keith’s lashing temper. “But I’ve dealt with this-“ Keith gestures to his face. “I’ve moved on. I don’t need to be someone’s pet project. I don’t want that.”

Shiro places the beer down on the bar. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “I get it. I’ve been there myself.”

Shiro’s quiet acquiescence takes the wind out of Keith’s sails. He expected a fight and doesn’t get one. He freezes in place then his tension eases.

Heath holds his breath.

“Okay,” Keith says after a long moment. “Well, good. Okay.” He looks at his father and Heath feels his body fill with guilt under the strain around Keith’s eyes. “Pop, I want to go home now.”

* * *

In the morning, Keith is up long before him. He comes out of the bedroom nursing a head that feels like it’s full of cotton balls and a throat as parched as the desert. He honestly doesn’t remember drinking that much, but he’s not as young as he used to be.

Apparently he can’t hold his liquor anymore either.

Keith spares him a glance from the stove as he shuffles into the kitchen. 

“Keith… Son, I’m sorry about last night. That wasn’t my place. I… I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Keith snorts. “You know what you were thinking. You were drunk and trying to fix me. But sometimes things can’t be fixed.” Heath watches, stunned, as Keith gives him a small shrug then slides the eggs out of the pan and onto his plate. The smell makes his mouth water. “Sometimes it’s just… it’s just how things are. I’ve accepted it. I wish you would too.”

Heath eats his eggs in silence.

* * *

The weeks go by and Heath does his best to give Keith the space he needs. It’s not easy though. It’s hard to shift from the role of parent to co-worker when they’re at the station together. It’s hard enough to keep his mind focused on the tasks at hand and not treat Keith any differently to the others in his crew.

Because that’s what he’s been doing, and it hasn’t been doing either of them any favours.

“I used up all my leave when Keith was injured, otherwise I _would_ take some time off,” he tells the station chief when he joins him for a coffee on the night shift. “Maybe space is what we both need.”

“You need to let him find his own way,” Kolivan rumbles. It’s not news to Heath. He knows this. Keith isn’t a little kid anymore, all insatiable curiosity and reckless energy.

And what he’s been through recently…

It’s aged all of them.

“Perhaps it’s time to retire,” Kolivan says.

Heath can’t quite tell if he’s joking.

* * *

Months after the night at the bar, Keith seems happier. He’s home less, he smiles more. Mostly at his phone, but Heath figures it’s a good thing all the same.

He gets the surprise of his life when one evening he arrives home after a long shift to see an unfamiliar car in the drive way and a bright teacup of colour shining through the lounge-room window. The TV is playing an old movie and there is genuine laughter he hasn’t heard in years but recognizes as his son’s.

He pushes the door open, stomping his boots a little louder than necessary on the threshold to announce his arrival and inside, the laughter dies off. That makes him a little sad but his fears are put to the side when Keith appears in the hallway.

“Hey pop, you’re home. Good timing, there’s someone I want you to see.”

He’s aware of someone else in the hallway, a tall shadow that seems vaguely familiar but it’s not until Keith ushers him into the kitchen he gets to take a good look and when he does, he has to double take.

The man steps forward and holds out his hand. A small smile graces his lips and Heath spares a glance at his son to find his eyes bright and warm. Heath remembers that same look on her all those years ago, right before she told him she loved him.

A chill that had taken up residence in his heart finally fades away. He realizes it then, in that moment, with his son put back together and gold in his smile, just what the force that had made him take that risk that night in the bar really was.

 _Fated_ , she’d said. Perhaps she wasn’t talking about them.

“Turns out you were right, Mr Kogane,” Shiro smiles. “Keith and I… we do match.”


End file.
